She was 11th in both training runs, well behind her top rival, Great Britain’s Lizzy Yarnold, who edged Pikus-Pace for the overall World Cup points title this season.

Pikus-Pace, a strong medal favorite, has been bothered by recurring back problems this season — especially the past two weeks — and isn’t pushing it during training.

“These past couple weeks have been a battle for her,” U.S. skeleton coach Tuffy Latour said. “Her whole MO has been taking a couple of runs during training and getting ready for the race. We’re going with that same theme here and we don’t want not put too much stress on her body.”

At last season’s World Cup race at the Sanki Sliding Center, Pikus-Pace didn’t have great training runs, yet won the event, barely beating teammate Katie Uhlaender.

Uhlaender is a sleeper to watch in this race. She owns the track record and feels very comfortable going through the uphill sections of this track. She was among the fastest on the track during Monday’s training.